Mixing It Up with KitchenAid!

This post is spon­sored by KitchenAid, but as always, all ideas and opin­ions are my own!

As if it wasn’t enough that our home was slowly being taken over by baking and decorating supplies from my own collection, American Girl had to announce that their 2015 Girl of the Year was a girl named Grace who is obsessed with all things baking and Parisian, undoubtedly causing our assortment to grow! Upon hearing the news and checking out the new toys for ourselves, my daughter, Anabelle, immediately decided she wanted a Paris Patisserie Baking party this year. Thus, we celebrated her eighth birthday this year with An American Girl in Paris theme!

It’s no secret that I am in love with KitchenAid and especially their colorful stand mixers! Last Fall, Anabelle and I put together an Apple Cider and Bake Sale Stand, inspired by the GORGEOUS Raspberry Ice mixer that I had been eyeing forever! Then, in partnership with their Cook for the Cure® initiative, I was thrilled to share the recipe for some Think Pink push pop cakes and cupcakes, while providing a sneak peek of the coordinating pink polka dot ceramic bowl coming out in September. So, when the American Girl doll’s baking accessories included a stand mixer that matched perfectly with the Aqua Sky colorway, we just HAD to have it for our party!!! Not only did we utilize it to bake up so many goodies for the party, we actually used it as part of the decor in the patisserie we brought to life, alongside the doll’s toy mixer and the super adorable mixer cookie made by the fabulous Case Bakes!

In preparation for the party, I baked over six dozen cupcakes with the KitchenAid mixer… the first time around. What do I mean by the first time around? Well, the day of the party, we had transported all the tables and chairs, decor and food to the park to begin setting up. All the week, the forecast had threatened possible rain and high winds, but especially since we had many guests that had flown in from out of town, we decided to press on and ignore the warnings! A few hours later, it was abundantly clear that the party was not going to take place, as the wind started picking up, temperatures began to drop and decorations were flying everywhere! It was not an easy thing to do, but much to the birthday girl’s dismay, we ended up having to cancel and re-schedule. So, I guess we can consider this first batch a test run that my husband’s co-workers had the pleasure of taste-testing! By the following weekend, the mixer and I were very well acquainted and were ready for attempt #2!

The six dozen cupcakes consisted of pink strawberry, triple chocolate and vanilla flavors. When baking, I often go between recipes from scratch and boxed cake mixes, depending on the occasion and my time frame. In this case, because I was baking up a storm in addition to all the party preparations, I knew I needed sweet and simple recipes, so I went with the boxed cake mix with slight alterations!

As far as baking cookies go, I have to admit I am far from an expert! So, when I decided to make sugar cookies for the kids to decorate at the party, I depended on my friend, Callye from The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle and her perfect sugar cookie recipe, which was superb! The first time around, I prepared the dough in the mixer, but then had to step out, so I stored it in the fridge. I went ahead and rolled the refrigerated dough, cut out my shapes and baked them upon my return and had no issues at all! Though the cookies could have easily been frozen for the rescheduled party date, I went ahead and made new, fresh batches the following week (avoiding refrigeration in this case) and they were just as perfect!

My daughter, Anabelle, and all her friends had an absolute blast decorating the cupcakes and cookies I baked up for the party!

I’m super excited to take advantage of my new KitchenAid mixer to further future mother-daughter bonding experiences with Anabelle and her coordinating American Girl baking accessories! These are memories that I will undoubtedly cherish forever and hope she will, too!